What chemical shall I use to flush cooling system or Radiator?

[epic1400cs]

I am going to change the coolant this summer. Changing the coolant is rather straight forward but I am thinking of flushing the system with using a chemical.

Normally just drain and flush with water is sufficient but my rad seems to build up some debris that looks ugly and may not go away only with normal water flush.

Do you guys recommend any good, effective but safe chemical to clean the system?
Do you recommend any brand I should rely on or does Honda sells things like this?

[tenchimuyo93]

i use the prestone chemical flush. it works great for me. just be sure to get all the antifreeze out first as the chemical flush stuff reacts badly with antifreeze

[frantik]

rubbing alcohol and salt works for me.. oh wait wrong forum :bong: :kekeke:

[epic1400cs]

i use the prestone chemical flush. it works great for me. just be sure to get all the antifreeze out first as the chemical flush stuff reacts badly with antifreeze
The Prestone products seems to be very good but, unfortunately in UK they are not available - real shame.
How about Wynn's - are they popular in US?

[tenchimuyo93]

ive heard of the wynns stuff, but have never used it. maybe someone else has exp with it.

[ghettogeddy]

ive always just stuck the hose in there started her up and made sure the plug was out always gave me a good flush

[epic1400cs]

ive always just stuck the hose in there started her up and made sure the plug was out always gave me a good flush
Thats what I normally do but there are small amount of brown bits etc (may be rust or lime scale) on the surface inside of the radiator after 19 years. It is what I want to clear. The car has been serviced very well and changed the coolant as specified by Honda.

[ghettogeddy]

Thats what I normally do but there are small amount of brown bits etc (may be rust or lime scale) on the surface inside of the radiator after 19 years. It is what I want to clear. The car has been serviced very well and changed the coolant as specified by Honda.

if i were you id just get a new rad
you may not be able to get ride of that rust deposits

try looking for a koyo
there not super expensive maybe like 100 us

[epic1400cs]

if i were you id just get a new rad
you may not be able to get ride of that rust deposits

try looking for a koyo
there not super expensive maybe like 100 us
The trouble is that the condition is not that bad.

[2oodoor]

The trouble is that the condition is not that bad.

Gheddy is right, the radiator is how old? geesh you got your moneys worth out of that one.
Dont waste your time and money on majic potions. That stuff you see in there , you will never get all of it. Even if you do a fine job of it, what you have done will be a chemical etch inside your system that will be even more vulnerable to future corrossion.
Radiators are real inexpensive these days.

[epic1400cs]

Thanks for your Koyo sales pitch :deal:
May be next time when the coolant have to be replaced again in 24 months time, I will consider replacing the rad.
Basically there is no problem with cooling - no sign of over heat, coolant leak at the moment.
All I wanted is to clean the inside, thats all.

You can't really make decision based on how old the car parts is - that is very simplistic and if that is true then we need to replace the whole car lol
My car had been serviced very well, kept in a garage before I bought it 4 years ago.
I have been fiddling cars for last 23 years include my early days as a taxi driver in Tokyo and I have seen a lot of rather new but bad rad as well as old but good rad.

Anyway, I have just finished flushing with Wynn's radiator flush which is recommended by Land Rover forum in UK and it did what it should do.
Actually the cooling system was not that dirty as I have expected and now the inside the rad looks much cleaner than before so I call it a day.

[lostforawhile]

Thanks for your Koyo sales pitch :deal:
May be next time when the coolant have to be replaced again in 24 months time, I will consider replacing the rad.
Basically there is no problem with cooling - no sign of over heat, coolant leak at the moment.
All I wanted is to clean the inside, thats all.

You can't really make decision based on how old the car parts is - that is very simplistic and if that is true then we need to replace the whole car lol
My car had been serviced very well, kept in a garage before I bought it 4 years ago.
I have been fiddling cars for last 23 years include my early days as a taxi driver in Tokyo and I have seen a lot of rather new but bad rad as well as old but good rad.

Anyway, I have just finished flushing with Wynn's radiator flush which is recommended by Land Rover forum in UK and it did what it should do.
Actually the cooling system was not that dirty as I have expected and now the inside the rad looks much cleaner than before so I call it a day.well the radiator is something that should be replaced being that old, they do deteriorate and if it fails you could have overheating damage.they eventually will start to leak from between the tank and the core,it's not like old time radiators that were all metal and lasted forever. there is actually a gasket in between that core and tanks. it's just one of those parts that should be replaced for peace of mind. would you feel safe driving if you had any original brake parts? they may be fine now,but when they get 2 decades old,they can fail without warning.

[2oodoor]

Im glad that works for you, can't argue with a system that works.

Here we have extreme heat, so I don't take chances on those. I have seen a lot of 5-10 year old radiators just loose cooling efficiency. There are a lot of factors that could lead to that.
Anytime you have disimilar metals in an engine you will get deposits in the cooling system that take on corrosion. That is the point of annual flushing, it really makes things last longer. So what you are doing is great, just hopefully it was done a few times before in 19 years.
A cool fact few people realize is that coolant itself can actually take on current (voltage). Try that some time, ground your DVM and put the red probe in the flowing coolant as the engine is running.

[lostforawhile]

Im glad that works for you, can't argue with a system that works.

Here we have extreme heat, so I don't take chances on those. I have seen a lot of 5-10 year old radiators just loose cooling efficiency. There are a lot of factors that could lead to that.
Anytime you have disimilar metals in an engine you will get deposits in the cooling system that take on corrosion. That is the point of annual flushing, it really makes things last longer. So what you are doing is great, just hopefully it was done a few times before in 19 years.
A cool fact few people realize is that coolant itself can actually take on current (voltage). Try that some time, ground your DVM and put the red probe in the flowing coolant as the engine is running.thats caused by a bad engine ground,the coolant should never have a voltage on it. this is what kills your heater core really fast. it causes galvanic corrosion and just eats it up. if you have a voltage on it,check all engine grounds,and especially check stereo system grounds. aftermarket amps are a leading cause of heater core failures, this is caused by them not having a proper ground back to the battery. often current will try to follow the coolant as a ground. more explantion,if the battery to body ground is bad, the body will try to ground through the heater core and through the coolant to the engine,because of the engine ground. where it goes into the heater core and out to the engine will corrode

[2oodoor]

you would be surprized, I think there is a threshold on when it becomes really destructive

[lostforawhile]

all it takes is a tenth of a volt to start corrosion in aluminum parts

[DBMaster]

FYI, guys, all-metal radiators do not last forever. I had to replace the one in my Pontiac Catalina when it was sixteen years old. My first replacement rad for the Accord was all metal and the solder joints between the tanks and core cracked after only three years. You are best off to stick with the metal/plastic design. I like the Koyo radiators because they have all aluminum cores, unlike our OEM copper/brass. Following the advice of a radiator builder bestowed upon me years ago I NEVER flush the cooling system. The most I will do is drain, refill with R/O or distilled water, run the car for ten minutes, and then drain it again refill with the proper amount of coolant and R/O water. Everything stays clean.

The problem with any kind of flushing - the old hose tee back flushing was the worst - is that any crud that settles in the bottom of your radiator will be stirred up and can be carried into the small passages and lines of your engine. It's much better to leave them where they lie and replace the radiator when it starts to leak - as they all will, eventually.

[epic1400cs]

I like the Koyo radiators because they have all aluminum cores, unlike our OEM copper/brass.
I am not sure if they do aluminum core for our car. I only have seen copper core versions from Koyo. If they do, I want one.
Do you have a pic?

[Ichiban]

Use whatever rad flush you want, follow the directions.

Replace the rad when it explodes.

[MessyHonda]

I am not sure if they do aluminum core for our car. I only have seen copper core versions from Koyo. If they do, I want one.
Do you have a pic?



yeah both my aftermarket rads are copper....i have a koyo in my car and another dual core aftermarket one with metal endtanks that was replaced like in 95